COOL SHIT 2-6-14

FAIREST #23: All right, I don’t really care for this story arc. I only mention it here in Cool Shit because I love the fuck out of that cover! Look at that rat’s ear on Cinderella’s ass! Perfect!

THE TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE #26: God-fucking-dammit. The “Dark Cybertron” crossover has been boring the tits off of me. It’s like IDW is trying to destroy all the awesome shit they’ve done with the title over the years. But . . . this issue is different. It’s actually gotten my attention. Bumblebee working with Megatron? (Or rather, half of Megatron.) Starscream’s dreams crushed so badly that he’s actually given up? Prowl willing to accept Decepticons on his side, even Soundwave? This book’s getting kind of strange. Not only that, but Rodimus confesses his weakest moment to Orion Pax, and Orion Pax doesn’t give him a feel-good speech? I love the fact that Orion Pax gives him shit for it and tells him that Rodimus should have given up his leadership role. How cool is that? And then, of course, there is Bumblebee’s speech in the end of the issue. It’s even better than Rodimus’s till-all-are-one speech from the animated movie. This issue turned me around on “Dark Cybertron.”

GOD IS DEAD #6: Only Jonathan Hickman would have all the gods come back to earth, and the top minds of our world turn themselves into gods in order to save humanity . . . only to have the new gods get big heads and want to rule in their own right. Judging from how this issue ends, I have no idea how Avatar Press will continue this story. It should end here. But there are ads for further issues. A part of me is afraid to find out how they continue, but I’m more consumed by my curiosity. My favorite part of this issue? When Zeus faces off against Stephen Haw—I mean, Dr. Rhodes.

COOL SHIT 1-16-14

GRAVEL: COMBAT MAGICIAN #0: FUCK YES! The return of William Gravel! I’ve been a fan of this book since I stumbled upon the first issue of STRANGE KISS at the Graham Crackers in Wheaton. Hot off the fucking press. I only wish that Warren Ellis was still writing it. Don’t get me wrong, I like Mike Wolfer, but Ellis brought a harder edge (and a darker humor) to Gravel. In this one, Gravel expounds on the history of combat magic in Britain, and of course he has to go up against a French combat magician. This is a bit of an odd #0, though. Usually, when Avatar Press does a #0, it’s a smaller book, maybe 99-cents, with a black and white preview, or maybe the first five pages of the first issue with a bunch of artist sketches. This one is fucking massive and comes in at $4.99 with a story of its own, which looks a lot to me like an issue one. There is a great combat log in the back of the book, giving readers Gravel’s history, starting with STRANGE KISS and going through to the final issue of GRAVEL. (Although the order is kind of off, and I can’t figure out why.)

CRYPTOZOIC MAN #3: This is an odd book for me. I can read any comic book with shitty art, just so long as the story is good. I’ve been fond of saying the opposite is not true. No matter how good the art, if the story sucks, I can’t get through it. I’m not saying the story of this book sucks. I just can’t get into it. However, the art is so mindblowingly amazing, I can’t ignore this book. There are so many great images, I found it really hard to settle on the one I wanted to sample for Cool Shit. I think I made the right choice, though.

GOD IS DEAD #5: OK, the gods are still kicking the shit out of each other. That’s not the cool part about this book. You know how the geniuses are trying to create gods of their own to fight the real gods? Well . . . they succeeded with this issue, and not in a good way. That last panel will make you clench your asshole.

NEXT TESTAMENT #7: This is probably my favorite miniseries going on right now, and Clive Barker and Mark Miller have upped the ante big time with this issue. God demands that his new followers fucking BUILD HIM A PYRAMID. When they fuck it up, he gets rid of them all. Next on the agenda? Blacking out the sun and raising a plague of locusts. And he’s acting like he just did everyone a favor. It’s unreal how good this book is.